Wichita State ends long Baylor home streak in 69-62 victory

Wichita State wanted redemption after allowing a lead to slip away against Notre Dame in Maui.

The Shockers received their second chance a week later and this time, they were able to make the winning plays down the stretch.

Conner Frankamp made a crucial three-pointer to break a tie with under three minutes remaining, as No. 8 Wichita State dominated crunch time to prevail with a 69-62 victory over No. 16 Baylor on Saturday afternoon.

It was WSU’s first victory over a top-20 team in the regular season since Feb. 28, 2015, when the Shockers beat Northern Iowa. The Shockers also ended Baylor’s 46-game home winning streak in non-conference play, the nation’s second-longest active streak.

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“We were beyond ready,” senior Rashard Kelly said. “We’ve been working on playing through adversity in practice and that’s what we did today.”

Frankamp finished with a team-high 17 points, including five three-pointers. Shaquille Morris added 15 points, while Landry Shamet and Darral Willis had 11.

The game was tied at 62 when Frankamp hit his fifth and final three from the corner to give WSU a 65-62 lead with 2:46 remaining.

“(Frankamp) is a great shooter and we look for him against the zone,” coach Gregg Marshall said. “It’s why he’s out there. He does a great job of letting it go with confidence. He great rotation on the basketball.”

It started a 7-0 run to end the game for Wichita State, which kept Baylor scoreless on its final five possessions. Kelly and Austin Reaves hit free throws to extend the lead down the stretch.

Wichita State shot 45 percent, including 10 of 16 from beyond the arc.

“We got the ball into the interior of the zone around the middle of the paint and then also to the corners,” Marshall said. “A lot of times they have four guys extended at the free-throw line and higher. So you’ve got to attack the baseline and that was a big emphasis for us.”

Baylor coach Scott Drew said the game mirrored one his team will see in the Big 12.

“It was a one-, two-possession game,” Drew said. “But it’s just really unique in college basketball to have six of nine guys in a rotation being seniors. You’ve got to credit their staff for keeping them around and them not leaving to go pro or transfer.”

The Shockers led by as many as seven points at times in the second half. A strong start to the half gave them a 40-33 lead, then Kelly dove to jar a loose ball to Darral Willis for the steal and eventual layup for a 55-48 lead with 10:11 remaining.

Morris played his most aggressive game, taking 16 shots in 22 minutes and scoring 15 points. That aggression was planned against Baylor’s 1-3-1 zone.

“We worked on sucking the defense in and playing inside-out,” Morris said. “When we get the ball inside, the defense sucks (inside). Then all of our shooters can get good shots outside when we kick it out.”

But Baylor, down to essentially seven players in its rotation, kept sending bodies to the rim and started grabbing missed shots.

The Bears never shot well, but they were able to use their height and length to beat WSU, statistically the top rebounding team in college basketball, on the glass.

Baylor finished with 13 offensive rebounds, which led to 17 free-throw attempts.

That was also how the first eight minutes started, as Baylor built a 17-12 lead because it was able to track down 60 percent of its misses for second-chance opportunities.

But the final 12 minutes of the first half belonged to the Shockers. They started contesting all shots, boxing out, and limiting Baylor to one possession. WSU improved so much that it ended the half out-rebounding Baylor 20-18.

WSU took a 33-29 lead into halftime by forcing five straight empty possessions to end the half from Baylor. Morris and Frankamp each had nine points.